Escape from the Law
by Soquilii
Summary: Based on The Tall Man episode The Girl from Paradise Characters belong, to some extent, history. Others are credited, for I own nothing: Samuel A. Peeples, creator; Lincoln County Production Company, Revue Studios and NBC.
The jovial, fat sheriff of San Miguel County pulled the prison wagon up in front of the town jail. By the looks of him, anyone would have thought he was a benevolent, jolly soul, but the prisoner in the back of the wagon knew otherwise. The man, Tollinger, had once worked for Pat Garrett as a deputy, and a harder, meaner, more vicious man could not be found.

Tollinger ordered his deputy to collect the new prisoner inside the jail while he dealt with the one they already had. While the man went inside, Tollinger strode to the back of the wagon and unlocked the heavy iron-barred door.

'S'matter, boy? Trip a little rough for ya? Want some water?'

The voice from within was weary, worn and bitter. 'Why don't you shut up, Tollinger?'

The sheriff reached in, grabbed a length of chain and jerked the prisoner out. He fell hard to the ground.

'Nervous about that hangman waitin' for you down in Pecos City?' the sheriff said, laughing raucously.

'Laugh it up, big man. Someday I'm going to shove that laugh down your fat throat!'

'Billy boy, you just ain't gonna live that long,' said the sheriff. He dragged Billy the Kid up from the ground.

'The man you swore I killed, Tollinger,' he rasped, 'I never even seen him before. Now, I got a lot of friends around here, and word's gonna get back to Garrett.'

'You think old Garrett's gonna help you, huh?'

'That's right!'

'Aw hell, boy, I'm the sheriff in this county. Garrett don't mean nothing around here. Besides, time word gets to him, little Billy Bonney's gonna be hanging from the end of a rope,' the sheriff said with a harsh belly laugh.

Just then the deputy emerged from the sheriff's office with the other prisoner. Billy, still in the clutches of Tollinger, did a double take. It was a girl, a slight, young, empty-eyed girl in a plaid dress. Her cheeks were smudged and her long reddish hair a tangle. She looked as if she hadn't eaten or slept in a week.

Tollinger shoved Billy back. 'Meet Anne Drake. You're gonna enjoy her company on our little trip. She's one of your kind … a _murderer_.'

He shoved Billy toward the wagon and grabbed Anne's arm, flinging her almost on top of Billy.

'You watch, Tollinger, because I'm gonna bust outta here!' Billy warned.

That was a mistake, for Tollinger unlocked one of Billy's wrist shackles and attached it to Anne's. 'Now … you just try it Billy, with her hanging onto your gun hand! Get in the wagon! Go on, get in there!'

Warding off Tollinger's shoving hands, Billy helped Anne in.

Tollinger was still laughing as he climbed onto the wagon and picked up the reins.

In the back, Billy and Anne both clung to the bench, trying to keep their balance in the rocking prison wagon. Billy looked at his companion. Her face was blank as a poker player's; her eyes had no expression whatsoever. He might as well have been sitting next to a store mannequin. It was still a long ride so he thought he'd make some conversation. Tollinger had called her a murderer. How could someone so slight kill anything but a chicken for Sunday dinner?

'What, uh, what did he mean when he called you a killer?'

She didn't answer.

'Had your trial yet?'

She sat stone-faced.

'Yeah, well, I'm having a pretty fair conversation with myself, here.'

She remained mute.

'Damn, I've met some unfriendly gals in my time, but, uh, you win the turkey, ma'am.'

She didn't even glance at him.

'What if, uh, I told you they were gonna hang me tomorrow?'

Silence. Apparently, nothing he could say impressed her.

'Ah, hah.' Billy's sense of humor, the one Pat Garrett often despaired of, kicked in. 'Well, much obliged for your sympathy, there, uh, don't overdo it, though, just, uh, put the flowers on the grave, there.'

She was starting to piss him off. His voice hardened. 'All right, you better listen to me, little Miss Annie,' he snarled, 'I'm busting out of here.'

She merely held up her end of the shackle to give him the lie.

'All that means is, you're goin' _with_ me!'

She finally broke her silence. 'Oh, don't you think I've got _enough_ troubles without your fool talk?!'

'All right, don't listen, just watch. And do as I say … _when I say it_!'

Billy moved to the front of the wagon and spoke loudly enough for Tollinger to hear, telling Anne and the deputy what he knew about the sheriff.

'See, Annie, that's the kind of man he is. He gets his fun beating up on anything that can't fight back … horses … women … hey, Tollinger! Remember how it was a year ago, back up in Lincoln County? When you was deputying for Pat Garrett? Yeah, Tollinger, he's a tough man. Just loves to beat up on any old stray drunk sleeping it off in their cells. Providing, of course a man can't fight back. I caught him doing it and Patrick fired him.'

Tollinger, reins in his fat hands, was steaming. Billy kept up the incessant, annoying chatter.

'Hey, Annie - guess that's why old Tollinger framed me - 'cause I know what he is and I can _tell_ anybody what he is! I can tell folks how Patrick ran him clean out of Lincoln County!'

'SHUT UP!' Tollinger yelled as Billy continued laughing.

His deputy looked at Tollinger suspiciously. 'The horses need water,' he said.

'There's a stream up ahead,' Tollinger said grudgingly. 'We'll stop and water the horses.'

In the back, Billy knew this was his chance.

When they stopped, the deputy took the bucket down the slope to the stream. Tollinger went around back. Come on out of there. Get a drink of water. Come on out of there!'

When they didn't move fast enough to please him, Tollinger grabbed Anne's arm and flung them both down into the dirt. He stood over them, laughing. He bent and boldly raked his hand over Annie's breasts as if she was his property to abuse.

Billy brought both legs up and powerfully kicked the man in the stomach, sending him over the edge of the slope. He rolled down and down until he splashed into the creek, out cold.

Billy saw his chance, grabbed Anne unceremoniously by the arm and took off running. The deputy, further down the creek, fired a shot at them but missed.

Leaping a small rise, Anne fell and rolled. Billy jerked her to her feet. 'Come on! Get up!' He yanked her heedlessly along, skinning her arm with the handcuff locked around her wrist, until she halted by a dead tree, panting, refusing to go further.

'You hurt my arm!' she yelled.

'We gotta keep movin'! Tollinger, he won't give up! I know him. He'll have a posse after us soon.'

'How far to the border?'

'We'll make it over those mountains, there; we'll be in Lincoln County. Three, four days at the most.'

'Lincoln County?! I thought we were headed south!'

'No, I got a friend there, he's a sheriff. Pat Garrett, he can give me some help.

'What good is it gonna do me if you turn me in to another sheriff?!' she protested. I'm heading south!'

She took off running, dragging him with her.

'Wait, wait a minute, come here! What are you doing?!'

She struggled against him as they grappled awkwardly on the ground, helpless to really do anything, locked together as they were.

'Nobody's gonna turn you in to the sheriff! Listen to me, willya?' He lost his hat in the struggle as she fought him like a tiger.

'Let go!' she yelled.

Billy grabbed her arms and forced them down, lowering his body on top of hers to subdue her. She mistook his intention.

 _'Don't touch me.'_

'You be still, then. Stop fighting me.'

'Don't ever put your hands on me again. I killed one man already. I won't think twice about killing you!'

'You're kind of anxious to get rid of me, ain't'cha? Well, I'll tell you somethin' lady, I'm about twice as anxious to get rid o' you!'

He raised his handcuffed wrist.

'I'm gonna get these things off if it's the last thing I do!'

He picked up her hand and pulled her to her feet, forcing her to run on.

Four legs racing, two hearts pounding, four lungs burning, but they had to keep running. Billy's motivation was stronger than Anne's. He hadn't killed anybody - lately, anyway, and certainly not according to Tollinger's accusation. With Anne it was different; it wasn't her intention to run. She had a date with the hangman's noose. Running wouldn't help anything. Billy was just pulling her back toward the law. Lincoln County had only to telegraph Tollinger and she'd be right back where she started. There was no escaping it. Why try? She was aching all over from this constant running. Why bother? Death seemed preferable to the hell she'd been living.

Anne stumbled and went down hard, jerking Billy backward. They lay together, breathing hard, trying to gather strength to keep going.

'We ought to head south,' she panted. 'If you're determined to run, we need to go south. Maybe I'd stand a chance.'

'Lincoln County's the best place to go.'

'Maybe for you, not for me. One sheriff's just the same as the next.' Anne took a deep breath. 'Come on, let's get out of here. We're wasting time.'

'You're the one who fell!'

'Let's go, if you're so damned determined!'

'Which way, yours or mine?'

She looked up at him.

'Look,' he said, 'I got a friend in Lincoln County, and he _ain't_ a sheriff. Ed Hopewell. He could get you out of the territory, safe and sound … but then, I don't suppose you'd wanna trust me …'

Her blue eyes grew cold and hard. 'Why _should_ I,' she spat. She got to her feet and took the lead this time, headed for Lincoln.

 _Better sleep with one eye open_ , Billy was thinking. _This dame's just liable to do me in before we get there._

Night fell. Worn out and footsore, the two escapees collapsed in a rocky enclosure. Billy glanced up, taking his bearings.

'There's a … there's an old miner's cabin, not much more than lean-to just ahead. Maybe there's something left we can use as a tool to get these things off.'

She sat, miserably tired and hungry. 'Wait. I have to …'

'You have to what?'

'I … I need some privacy.'

'Oh. All right. Here. You take that side of the boulder and I'll use this side.' He stretched the short chain as far as he could, extended his arm until his shoulder twinged in protest and ducked his head. Damned awkward having only one hand free to do _anything_. He didn't envy her the long skirts.

With matters properly attended to, she came from behind the boulder, red-faced. In that day and time, natural functions simply were not alluded to in the presence of the opposite sex. She thanked him by awkwardly nodding her head.

'It's all right,' he grudgingly assured her. 'The cabin is right down there.'

They made their way through the brush and came upon the cabin, a three-sided affair nestled at the foot of a rocky cliff by which an icy stream made its circuitous way to the river.

'I'd say wash up and get yourself a drink except you gotta go with me to find some tools,' he joked.

She glared at him.

'Ok, go get a drink,' he conceded. He tried to take her arm to help her down to the stream but she stubbornly flung him off.

She knelt, getting her dress wet and muddy, and scooped the icy water into her mouth while he stood watching. She got her fill and stumbled to her feet. It was his turn. He slated his thirst and splashed water over his face, running his fingers through his hair. They climbed back up the rise toward the cabin. There was just enough moonlight to see; a quick search yielded nothing they could use.

'I was hoping for a chisel, at least,' Billy said. 'Looks like we're gonna be stuck like this for a while.'

'You can't grind it against a rock?'

Billy held the chain up to her face. 'Grind a chain this thick? Maybe, but you know how long that would take? Even trying to break this lock with a stone…one of us'll get our wrist broken. You wanna try that?!'

'Yes! _Yours!_ It'll heal!'

'Boy, you're really something,' Billy laughed grimly. 'Don't reckon I'll be breaking my wrist just for your benefit, lady.'

'You're dragging me to get hanged one way or another! _You_ might be innocent but I'm not!'

They stood glaring at each other.

'Look, lady, I'm worn out. When it gets light maybe we can find something to eat. For now I'm calling it a night.'

There was a moldy buffalo robe on the broken-down cot. He pulled it down onto the ground, fur up. It would make an acceptable bed.

He lay down upon it and set his hat over his face. His right arm hung suspended in air until Anne decided to sit on the corner of the old robe and lean back against the wall.

Billy sighed. It was going to be an uneasy night.

The torturous journey continued the next day. Anne said not a word as she tried to keep up with Billy. They found plenty of water to keep them going but food was in short supply. They were both feeling the effects of it.

'I figure we made over twenty miles today,' Billy remarked as he guided Anne beneath the overhang of a cliff. He eyed the darkening sky. 'We might be in for some rain. This cliff might give us some protection.'

She stood waiting to see what he would do. He kicked at an abundance of dry leaves that had blown in under the cliff, caught by the rock. 'The ground's kinda hard here … these leaves might make it easier sleepin' … little warmer, too, 'specially if it starts rainin'.'

He shoved them into a deep pile with his boot and motioned with his free hand. 'All right - go ahead.'

'I don't want to lie down!' There was a note of panic in her voice.

'Well, you gotta rest _some_ time. I don't think you closed your eyes all last night.'

'Why don't you leave me alone!'

Billy's patience was all but exhausted. 'All right, I'm just trying to -'

'And stop staring! I know what you're thinking. Well, I'm not that kind, I never was! I never yet met a man who wasn't a cheat or a liar! See, I know you, I know your type … so don't think you can smile and soft-talk me … and expect me to forget what you are!'

'I don't hear anybody soft-talking here, Miss.'

She glared at him.

'Look,' said Billy, 'I don't know what you think I am … I don't care … I'm too tired. I gotta get some sleep.'

He lowered himself into the pile of leaves. For a bed, it didn't feel too bad. He took his hat off and placed it over his face. His voice was muffled as he put a cap on the conversation: 'Good night!'

Anne sat down in the leaves and leaned back against the rock wall, anticipating another sleepless night. She watched the lightning play in the clouds; faint thunder rolled in the distance, growing nearer. She felt the moist breeze and smelled rain in the air. Despite the fact that she was chained to someone she didn't trust, not being alone at night with a storm coming was somehow comforting. Besides, so far … Billy hadn't made one false move.

Thankfully, the storm skirted them, but there were plenty of other noises in the night. In the early morning hours an unearthly sound reverberated through the hills. Anne, who had barely dozed, grew fearful.

'Billy? Billy, you awake?

'It's just a coyote - you go on to sleep,' he said.

After a moment she spoke softly, 'I'm sorry for what I said. Maybe if I told you about me …'

He waited, listening, eyes closed. This woman who had literally been a millstone around his neck didn't for once sound so fierce or hateful or unforgiving. Not even threatening. She sounded, well, vulnerable. He almost held his breath, listening.

'I come from a little place called Paradise … in Kansas. I hated my pa, so I ran away with the first smooth-talkin' man that came along … a drummer called Charley … he had a nice smile. A circuit-riding preacher married us … and I was happy for a bit. I'll never forget his face the day I told him about the baby coming …'

Billy opened his eyes and waited for her to continue. He almost knew what she was going to tell him next.

'The next day he just … up and disappeared … and it wasn't until after I lost the baby that I found out he had … another wife in the next county … all along …'

She waited for him to say something. When he didn't she spoke no more.

Billy lay awake a long time.

The next morning the two escaped prisoners found a ripe mulberry tree; they were able to eat their fill and polish off the meal with cold spring water.

'It'll keep us going. Here's my bandanna. Tie up some for the trail.'

Billy helped Anne pick a as much as the bandanna would hold before they continued on.

Soon they were traversing a meadow dotted with trees - not quite a forest but it made for shady walking and easier turf.

'Last night you were telling me a little about yourself, Annie. What I want to know is, who'd you kill?'

They walked on for a spell until Anne was ready to answer.

'Well … after what I told you, after Charley left, I went to work as a maid in Salina. There was a doctor there … he helped me get better after the baby. I met Jonas through him. He was a preacher, I think. I just let him take me to his spread in Pecos. It didn't take long to find out why he'd married me. Please, Billy, I've got to rest a minute.'

They sat in the shade of an old oak. Billy waited for her to go on.

'Jonas … he didn't want a wife. He wanted a, a sinner he could torture. He kept bringing up my past. God, Billy, he beat me and beat me, just like my father! Said he was trying to drive the devil out of me.' Anne pulled her long hair back off her neck. 'Look for yourself!'

Billy gently pulled the neck of her dress away. He was horrified to see scars criss-crossing her back as far down as he could see.

Anne continued. 'That … that day I took his gun … I told him I'd kill him if he ever whipped me again but he just smiled … so strangely … and he kept coming at me … and … Oh God. I didn't want to kill him!'

'Annie … Annie, what you've described is self-defense. I've kept myself out of jail many a time because I had the same defense.'

'There were no witnesses, Billy. And I didn't know any better. I went into town and confessed. I didn't know what else to do.'

'And old Tollinger, he's one for hurting, not helping.'

'He said because I confessed there wasn't any need for a trial.'

Billy understood now, what the girl had been through. 'See, this is why I want to take you to Lincoln. My friend Patrick, he's gonna have a key to these handcuffs and he can see you get a proper trial. Even with no witnesses - if you have a doctor testify about what's on your back -'

'Billy … nothing has gone right for me. I'm afraid to trust. I'm afraid to hope.

'Have I given you any reason to distrust me?'

She shook her head. There were tears in her eyes, and her face had softened, and she didn't in any way resemble the woman he had so disliked up until now. He could see past the wall she had built around herself. She was a girl, young and scared, and she had been treated so very, very badly. His heart went out to her. He didn't blame her for appearing cold and callous. He was made from some of the very same fabric.

'Annie, can you keep going for a few hours?'

'I'll try … but why?'

'Because we'll be in Lincoln County by then. Reach Lincoln by noon. We got ahead of the posse and we need to stay ahead. By tonight they can't touch us.'

'It's that close? Really?'

'Yeah. Come on. I know where there's an abandoned house; we'll rest good tonight.'

The pair soldiered on.

The meadow gave way to more of the rocky, dusty country that made up much of New Mexico. Annie was tiring; Billy supported her much of the time as they walked. The stars twirled over their heads as the hours passed. Suddenly, Billy halted their progress.

'There. Through the trees. See it?'

'What?'

'It's a road we can follow. No more rough terrain.'

'A road? No, Billy, Tollinger's posse will be riding this way!'

'Look closer. See the sign? It says 'Lincoln County. We'll be out of their jurisdiction. We made it, Annie!'

Energized, the two clasped hands and ran down the slope to the dirt road. Sure enough, the county line stood before them. Billy clasped Anne's shoulders in glee.

'Just up ahead, Annie - a place we can rest. Come on!'

The old house was everything Billy said it was. A far cry from a rough lean-to, it had been occupied until just a few weeks before when the tenants left the region.

Billy hauled a bucket of water up from the well. He and Anne drank deeply and washed the dust off their faces. Although there were no tools in the barn by which they could break the chain binding them, a search of the springhouse yielded a treasure: a small amount of smoked pemmican and some dried grains. Together they carried these things into the old house where Billy soon had a fire going. There was one small iron pot the tenants must have overlooked hanging in the fireplace. Once cleaned, it was serviceable. Anne soon had the grains cooking into sofky. She added what was left of their berries.

There was no bedding but together they fashioned a pallet with straw from the barn and an old horse blanket, arranging it in front of the fire.

They took turns dipping their fingers into the pot of cooked grain and nibbling on the pemmican. After days of near starvation, having even a little food made all the difference.

'The berries give it a nice touch. Not many couples … do _everything_ together,' Billy joked. He was gratified to see Anne actually smile.

'You're pretty when you smile,' he said. 'Why don't you rest a while. I'll keep watch.'

'I'm still afraid. The posse …'

He shook his head as he stirred the fire. 'Annie,' he said, 'you sleep, Annie. You just go off to sleep now…'

He sat staring into the fire, keeping alert to the slightest sound, but knowing they were safe. His right hand, attached to hers, kept still while his left hand fed the fire through the night.

Just before dawn Annie awoke. Billy was dozing lightly, resting his head against his raised knee. She lay a moment watching him. He was the first man she had ever known to earn her trust. She had a feeling that even if they weren't locked together he would have pulled her to safety. She touched his arm.

He turned to look at her. The expression in her eyes invited him to lay down beside her. He waited for her to speak.

'Billy … I never loved anyone before. Do you believe that?'

'Yes.'

'But you … I could love you, Billy … oh, I _could_!'

He slowly bent to kiss her. She returned his embrace, whispering in his ear, 'I wish … I wish I could be born again … for you.'

'No need for that, Annie.'

He moved closer to her. She responded to his gentle touch, returning his kisses. The kisses deepened; his hands were tangled in her hair as passion overtook them. They slept in each other's arms. By morning they were in love.

Tollinger's posse was closer than Billy figured. Infuriated by the escape, which would no doubt get him fired again, Tollinger was determined to drag the runaways back to his own county to hang. He wasn't going to let a little thing like the county line stop him.

Back in Lincoln at last, Billy and Anne trudged down the dusty street toward Pat Garrett's office. Billy pushed the door open. The sheriff was seated at his desk. He looked up in surprise at the two dirt-smudged, exhausted apparitions that had come into his office.

'Patrick … we need help.'

'What in tarnation have you gotten yourself into now, Billy?' the sheriff demanded to know.

'Me and Annie, here, this is Anne Drake, Patrick - we been on the run more'n three days. Y'gotta help us, Patrick.' Billy held up the handcuffs that bound him to Anne. 'It's Tollinger.'

'Rafe Tollinger? That bastard I ran out of town a few years back?'

'Y'got that right. He's been sheriffin' over in the next county. He framed me for murder; trust me, Patrick, I didn't do it! Annie here, well … she killed her husband but in self defense.'

'Can she prove it?'

'She's got a backfulla stripes that he gave her. That's all the proof she has, Patrick. You gotta help her!'

'First things first,' Pat said. He lifted the two hands that had been shackled together for days, produced his key and unlocked them. Annie cried with gratitude. 'Go in there, wash up, and I'll bring you something to eat from the café. You look about dead.'

'Felt that way at times, Patrick.'

Billy escorted Annie to the back room. Pat crossed the street to order a steak dinner for each of them. He was inside the café when Tollinger and his posse rode up.

Tollinger ordered his men to stay mounted. He went inside the sheriff's office. Not finding his old nemesis there, he was about to leave when Billy came back through the door. Anne was still in the back room.

'Tollinger?! You have no jurisdiction here!' Billy shouted.

'When did I ever let a line on a map stop me?' the man snarled. He was oblivious to the fact that he was about to gun down an unarmed man. 'Besides, now I have a good chance to draw against you, Kid. A sure thing!'

Anne had heard the commotion in the next room and was now creeping close to the door, just a few feet from where Billy stood. Just as Tollinger drew his pistol and fired, she flung herself in front of Billy, taking the bullet at the base of her neck.

Across the street, Pat Garrett was running back to his office, gun drawn. The posse waiting outside remained on their horses, allowing Tollinger to do his own dirty work.

Just as Tollinger prepared to fire again, Pat Garrett shot him down. He stepped over the criminal sheriff and helped Billy lower Anne to the floor. Her body was completely limp; her spinal cord severed. She took a few shallow breaths, looking up at Billy's face. Her mouth silently formed the words, 'Bye, Billy,' before she died.

Pat accompanied Billy with the posse back to face charges. When the dust had settled, Billy's case was resolved and Anne's name was cleared.

Billy saw Anne laid to rest in the Lincoln cemetery. Pat drove Billy in the buckboard back into Lincoln after the burial. He set the brake and got down off the wagon. Billy remained in the wagon, disconsolate. He made no move to get down.

'Billy … there's a lot to be thankful for, Billy,' said his friend. That judge who freed you on that phony murder charge … those folks to came forward to testify … you're a free man … and a lucky one.'

'A free man,' Billy repeated in a monotone. He got down off the wagon. Pat clasped his shoulder.

'Billy … Billy, I know how you feel. She got a decent burial. That's all anybody can do for her now.'


End file.
